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Mosaic Helps Lift Cargill Net

Agribusiness giant Cargill Inc. said fiscal third-quarter earnings rose 23%, with the profit improving at four of its five business segments.

The exception was the agricultural-services business. It posted slightly weaker earnings despite benefiting from farm customers' demand for grain marketing and risk-management services.

Cargill—whose businesses range from commodity processing and trading, to food ingredients and financial services—has benefited from a global grain boom in part by exporting more crops. But the biggest impact on its earnings has come from its 64% stake in fertilizer-company
Mosaic Co.
MOS -0.68%
, the stock price of which is up by 35% in the past year. But in January, Cargill unveiled plans to sell its stake in Mosaic. That deal is expected to close in the current quarter.

For the quarter ended Feb. 28, Cargill, which isn't publicly traded, reported a profit of $1.11 billion, up from $898 million a year earlier.

Excluding discontinued operations such as Mosaic, earnings rose 30% to $763 million from $588 million.

Cargill's revenue increased 21% in the latest period to $30.5 billion, excluding Mosaic. Results were led by the origination and processing segment, which used its global sourcing and risk management capabilities to serve customers despite market disruptions.